Yampa Valley Medical Center earns award for patient safety

Steamboat Springs  Yampa Valley Medical Center is touting a new award it has earned for ranking within the top 5 percent of all hospitals for patient safety.

According to a news release, YVMC earned a 2013 Patient Safety Excellence Award from Healthgrades, a national organization that helps patients evlauate and compare hospitals.

“Our commitment to safety can be seen every day at YVMC, where our care team emphasizes clear communications about our patients,” internal medicine physician and Chief of Staff Dr. Kevin Borgerding said in the release.

It also comes as the hospital is promoting three additional safety programs it has implemented this year that span from how patients receive medicine to a mobile point-of-care testing process in the respiratory therapy department.